Redfox: Sounds like paradise!
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Redfox: Sounds like paradise!
Pretty frugal weekend here. We ate at home for most of it, though we did eat out once (hit the dollar menu and the total came out of our budgeted fun money). DH's sister was in town, so we visited with her on Saturday. She brought a lot of things for the kids--some clothing in larger sizes for DS and a few clothing items and toys for DD. Some of it was new, and some of it was stuff her kids had outgrown. We were thrilled with it all. The generosity of people just amazes me. We ate dinner while we were there and just had a really nice time watching our children play together.
Yesterday we cleaned and organized a bit and ate leftovers for lunch. Supper was a frozen pizza I bought on sale with a coupon and some ice cream bars I got for less than a dollar with coupon (plus, there was a redbox code inside the box for a free rental!). We had a movie night and watched a movie we already had.
DH and I also hit the grocery store. We have been price matching at Walmart and using some high value coupons. This has allowed us to do well with our tiny grocery budget (though I am still not fond of Walmart in general).
I went to a new thrift store looking specifically for a pair of khaki chinos, either LL Bean or J. Crew; just a classic basic style. Found J. Crews in my size and perfect fit (even around my waist!) for $7.99!!!! Unbelievable.
Lately I've been finding exactly what I want at thrift stores and I now have a list describing just what I'm looking for.
I found the agitator in my washer was broken, the part that twists and pulls the clothes down was stripped. I was able to go online, order the part and replace it myself, for cheaper than it would have cost to have someone just look at it.
Score, ponymom and creaker!
Our dog had what looked like a bleeding hemorrhoid. I looked up natural cures on the Internet and found bulky foods and vitamin K cream for treatments. I didn't have any vitamin K cream so I made him soup with lots of leafy green veggies with vitamin K. The bleeding stopped within an hour. I gave him the soup a couple more times and he has been on the mend since then. I think the soup saved us a $300 vet bill, plus I am sure our dog feels a lot better.
For product reviews this month I ordered a free Ipod clock radio / docking station and a book on edible lawns.
I got another Visa gift card for $100 for signing up for U-verse. The state sent me my check for $70 that I found on their abandoned property database. I had a royalty check that was made out to our old company name reissued to our new company, for another $60. I found out from the title company that I had an unexpected $60 check coming from our last refinance, that we never received in the mail. That check was reissued this month, so I had some nice surplus in the budget between the different extra checks.
We used a buy one get one free coupon to have brunch at a buffet on Sunday.
My son cleared out all his teen and children books and sold them at the used book shop for $34.
We refinanced our house again with a no point, no fee loan. We signed the papers last week a day before the lock ran out. Otherwise our rate would have gone up another .7% for the same loan since rates went up during the lock period. We got $250 back for at closing for signing up for auto pay.
We live near the factory that makes our bar soap, so I went and bought a case again at the wholesale price.
I've been using the store coupons I get in email for Safeway and Fresh and Easy to save money on groceries. I use the self serve checkout at F&E to get all the monthly debits done in a day or two on a bunch of low priced items to meet the monthly debit requirements for our high yield checking account. Otherwise I like to to use the 2% cash back credit card for the rest of the groceries.
The dryer quit getting warm, and since it is a stack unit, and inseparable from the washer, I called in a repair person. He was great! Even though it was a $200 repair -- broken heating element -- it was far cheaper than a new set. And since it is raining, raining, raining in Seattle, a load is taking over 24 hours to dry on a rack inside... My entire house was draped with damp laundry!
Recent frugals:
- My car has been parked in the garage since Saturday.
- One dinner this week is a fish dish for which I bought tilapia rather than cod. It's less expensive and just as tasty.
- I visited a dollar store (a real dollar store, not the kind that prices everything in whole-dollar amounts) and found a few food items we eat that are a true deal at $1 (and a few that aren't a deal at $1; I didn't buy those) and some soap we really like that's a bargain at $1 a bar.
- Continuing to use up what's in the freezer and the pantry. I have started refilling as I see bargains on stuff we will use. Often I can substitute something for whatever is requested in the recipe.
Steve: We buy frozen tilapia regularly at Costco and it's become a freezer staple for us. The quality is great and the price is good. The frozen tilapia from our grocer isn't as good.
rosa, thanks. DW occasionally tags along with DD (who has the Costco membership; go figure); I'll ask her to remember to buy tilapia next time she goes.